Getting sultry with Becca’s Balearic Love Collection!

Whilst all the other make-up brands have been mining pretty pastels and tropical brights for their spring and summer collections, Becca has instead decided to steam things up! Their Balearic Love Collection is a sexy, sultry and smoky change of pace from the rest of the make-up counters this season… and I am loving it!

It’s even more unusual as Becca are more renowned for au natural beachy beauty looks, thanks to their carefree Aussie heritage. Balearic Love sees them go rich, sensual and seductive – but with Becca’s trademark wearability and versatility still key.

Rather than show you my usual array of amateur looks in my living room, I instead got the professionals in, with a makeover from the lovely Fred at Becca’s counter in Lane Crawford IFC. Despite the range being filled with deep dark plums, vampy violets and smoky browns, Fred showed me how to do both a day and night look – and I have been playing with the collection to my heart’s content ever since!

I’ve been a huge fan of Becca for a long time; thanks to their fantastic quality formulas and high-quality performance, my everyday make-up has composed of Becca’s tinted moisturiser and concealer for the last few years. Thus, Fred didn’t deviate from my normal routine, just adding some of Becca’s regular hero products – Tuberose Cheek Crème for a natural glowing blush, a light swipe of Cassini lip gloss and Narcissus highlighter. The Balearic Love Collection is all about the eyes, so it’s best to keep the rest of your complexion neutral.

First up was my day look, starring the Balearic Love Palette ($550, shown swatched with the Valentina lipstick). This consists of three colours – Atlas (a light matte taupe), Romal (a deep matte brown) and Marcella (a smoky plum with gold shimmer). Fred applied a base of Atlas, a slight smattering of Romal to contour my eye and held strong against my deep longing for shimmer by telling me he was saving Marcella for night time! These eye shadows all have a soft velvety texture and I can see this palette being a great buy for all complexions, as these shades are so very wearable.

Next up was the Cabrera Line and Define Pencil ($350), a dual-ended eyeliner – just like the palette, super-convenient and super-wearable. One end is a medium bronze-brown, the other a violet so deep it’s practically black. I’m used to my soft creamy Urban Decay eyeliners, so the texture of this was a little harder than I’m used to, but it went on smoothly and for a pencil, is extremely good for producing defined lines. Fred used the brown end only and smudged the line to create a soft, natural daytime Balearic Love look.

But now onto the fun part! Fred was dispatched to find my inner femme fatale… and it didn’t take much work to bring out my vampy side! He went heavy on Marcella from the palette and strong and defined with the purple-black end of the eyeliner (plus a slick of the sheer rose lippie from the collection, Valentina, $330 – it smells of yummy caramel but it wasn’t as soft and creamy as I would like) – and here’s the result. I LOVE IT. I adore the intensity it brought to my eyes; they’re so smouldering and instantly draw you in. Although I had my makeover in the afternoon, this lasted in pretty pristine condition well into the midnight hours. Gorgeous. I was channelling Rita Hayworth in Gilda so hard that it was all I could do to not start singing Put The Blame On Mama. Can I keep Fred please?!

There were a few other products from Balearic Love that Fred didn’t get to use, including my favourite from the collection, the Romanticism Eye Tint ($330, swatched with the Cabrera Pencil). If you’ve never used one of Becca’s water-resistant eye tints before, get shopping! They’re so brilliant for those days when you just can’t be bothered – a crease-free, long-lasting slick of versatile colour that you can keep sheer or layer up for impact, and they work great as a tinted primer for shadows too. Romanticism is one of my favourite colours so far, a delicate dusty mauve-mink with a subtle shimmer. It also comes as part of a Smoky Eye Kit (which also includes Cabrera, a mascara and a sharpener) and is great value at just $700.

Finally, how could we forget the nail polish ($220)! Believe it or not, I’ve never tried a Becca polish – and the quality is fantastic. The Balearic Love Collection has three shades, Paso Doble (deepest blackberry), Tempranillo (wine red) and Cala Blanca (sandy nude). You’ll only need two coats of this quick-drying, high gloss varnish and you’re good to go; it also goes for days without chipping. The colours aren’t the most exciting but for me, Paso Doble is the truest match for the rest of this vamp-tastic collection.

The Balearic Love Collection totally seduced me. Although at first I was a little disappointed that none of the colours were anywhere near as purple as the initial press releases had described, this is a collection that takes you from day to night and from virgin to vixen (I can’t believe I just wrote that), effortlessly.

So this summer, forget the girlie pastels and unleash your dessert temptress instead!

Lauren

Lauren is the Senior Editor of Sassy Hong Kong. She was born and raised right here in Hong Kong and loves every part of the city and all its many contrasts. She loves to travel and is always on the look out for the next adventure…